NDFB will be ready for negotiation: Army chief

Shillong, Jul 20: Army Chief General VK Singh told that the Assam rebel group National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB) would come to the negotiating table if they are handled properly.

During his visit to Meghalaya on Monday, Jul 19, he told that NDFB is like a child who cries for the attention in the house.

"I am quite sure if handled properly, NDFB would come to the negotiating table or they will surrender," VK Singh said.

On May 1, 2010, Bangladesh security agencies pushed Ranjan Daimary, chairman of the anti-talks faction of the NDFB, to India through the India-Bangladesh border at Dawki in Meghalaya.

"Ranjan Daimary has been captured and the whole organisation is in confusion. They have to now prove by some action that they are still there. That's all I read into it," he added.

NDFB came into being on Oct 3, 1986, and fights to get a sovereign Bodoland north of the Brahmaputra River. It was very active during the 1990s.

In May 2005, the NDFB declared a ceasefire agreement with the central government and the Assam government.

However, in Dec 2008, the powerful NDFB split into two factions over the ceasefire agreement - one headed by Daimary, who stuck with the armed struggle for sovereign Bodoland, and the other led by B Sungthagra.